NATIONAL NEWS

6th Indian Ocean Conference

• The 6th Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) is taking place in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

• The sixth edition of the conference is being organized by the India Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh and the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

• The theme of this year's conference is 'Partnership for Peace, Prosperity and a Resilient Future'.

• The IOC is expected to provide a forum for discussion on a wide range of issues related to the Indian Ocean including trade, security, climate change and regional connectivity.

• The aim of the conference is to bring together high-level government delegations and think tanks from around 25 countries to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation among countries in the Indi an Ocean region.

PM Modi Lays Foundation Stone of LIGO-India Project

• PM Modi laid the foundation stone of Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory – India (LIGO-India).

• The LIGO-India facility is being constructed in the Hingoli district in Maharashtra.

• LIGO-India will be an advanced gravitational-wave observatory to be located in India as part of a worldwide network.

• The LIGO facility involves the construction of two 4-km-long vacuum chambers in an L-shape along with other structures.
• The facility is set to become operational by 2030.
• It is set to become the largest scientific facility in India.
• This facility will be capable of sensing gravitational waves generated during the merger of massive astrophysical objects such as black holes, and neutron stars.

Santiniketan Recommended for Inclusion in UNESCO

• Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy announced Santiniketan, the place where Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore built Visva-Bharati over a century ago, has been recommended for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List by an international advisory body.

• India has been striving for a long to get a UNESCO tag for this cultural site located in West Bengal’s Birbhum district.

• This will formally be announced in the World Heritage Committee meeting to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in September 2023.

• The France-based International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is an international non-governmental organisation that comprises professionals, experts, and representatives from local authorities, companies and heritage organisations and is dedicated to the conservation and enhancement of architectural and landscape heritage around the world.

• Santiniketan, over 160 km from Kolkata, was originally an ashram built by Tagore’s father Debendranath Tagore, where anyone, irrespective of caste and creed, could come to meditate.
• India has a total of 40 sites which enjoy the UNESCO World Heritage tag.
• It also includes 52 sites in the Tentative List.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Monkeypox No Longer a Global Health Emergency

• The World Health Organization declared the end of a global health emergency for the rare but potentially serious disease mpox, formerly known as monkeypox.

• According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, countries have reported about 90% fewer cases in the past three months.

• The emergency declaration was issued in July 2022 amid a major global surge in cases.
• mpox belongs to the family of poxviruses, which also includes smallpox, and people with the disease often develop a rash on various parts of the body.

BANKING

Federal Bank and NeSL Partner to Offer Electronic Bank Guarantee

• Indian private sector bank Federal Bank has partnered with National e-Governance Services Limited (NeSL) to launch an electronic bank guarantee (e-BG) facility.
• With this partnership, Federal Bank hopes to completely replace the traditional paper-based process ‘in due course’.
• A bank guarantee is an assurance a financial institute like a bank offers to the external party if the borrower is unable to pay the debt.
• Electronic Bank Guarantee facilitates the issuance, invocation, amendment, and cancellation of Bank Guarantee in digital form and removes the need of printing any document/request thereof.
• It is safe, secure, and fast, facilitating trade/business activities.
• Individual, Sole Proprietor, Company, Partnership Firm, Govt. Agencies, Association of People, Body of Individuals are eligible to avail of this facility.
• This is currently available only in states where e-stamping is available.

Axis Bank Enables UPI for Rupay Credit Cards

• India’s third largest private sector bank, Axis Bank, has successfully enabled linkage of RuPay credit cards with Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

• Axis Bank has become the latest entrant in the list of banks that offer customers to link their RuPay credit card with UPI, with other banks being Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, Indian Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Union Bank of India (UBI).

• Bank customers can pay with their RuPay Credit Card when scanning UPI QR Codes or at the merchant’s UPI checkout page.

• The feature will allow bank customers to receive credit card rewards and the lender is rolling out the functionality in phases.
• UPI transactions rose 43% year-on-year (y-o-y) to a record `14.1 trillion in value terms during April, 2023.

YES Bank Launched ‘YES KIRAN’ Solar Financing Scheme

• YES Bank, has launched a lending proposition called ‘YES KIRAN’ to provide financial assistance to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) manufacturers who want to install solar panels at their premises.

• It is to support the adoption of sustainable energy practices by MSMEs while also bringing cost efficiency by reducing their expenses towards power and fuel.

• YES KIRAN offers a range of benefits to MSMEs, including less operational cost, end-to-end support, flexible loan tenure at competitive interest rates, etc.

• The bank has also partnered with companies like Panasonic Solar Power System to help businesses transition to renewable energy solutions.

• It also fulfils India’s G20 vision of achieving a target of over 50% energy production from renewable sources by 2030.

SPORTS

ISSF World Cup 2023

• Rhythm Sangwan, India won a bronze medal in the women's 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

• Sangwan shot 219.1 in the final round to finish third on the podium.

• Anna Korakiaki of Greece won the gold medal, while Olena Kostevich of Ukraine won the silver medal.

• ISSF primary purpose is to provide a standardised qualification system for the Olympic shooting competitions.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Day of Plant Health

• International Day of Plant Health is observed every year on 12 May.
• The day was announced by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2019 to raise awareness about the importance of protecting plant health for the well-being of people, the environment and the economy.
• Plant health is important for ensuring food security, protecting biodiversity, and preventing the spread of pests and diseases that harm plants, animals, and humans.
• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is leading global efforts to promote plant health and prevent the spread of pests and diseases.
• The theme for International Day of Plant Health 2023 is ‘Plant Health for All: Protecting Plants, Protecting Life.’

International Nurses Day

• International Nurses Day is celebrated every year on 12 May.

• The day is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing and a renowned English social reformer and statistician.

• Florence Nightingale is known as the ‘Lady with the Lamp’.

• The theme of International Nurses Day 2023 is ‘Our Nurses, Our Future’.
• International Nurses Week is celebrated from May 6 to May 12 in many hospitals around the world.
• Various activities including yoga sessions and seminars are organised during this week to recognize and support nurses.